New Years 2018 Sees First Country in the World to Make Paying Men More, Illegal

The legislation was announced last year on Womens Day in aims to abolish the pay gap between the genders in Iceland. The Nordic country is currently the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women. It has also been ranked the best country nine years in a row for gender equality.

The old policy merely called for equal pay between the sexes but not enough action was being taken. The new policy requires for companies with more than 25 people to obtain a certificate demonstrating equal pay. This certificate shows that each job in the company has been evaluated for equal pay.

The new policy follows a reported statistic from the UK where the pay gap between men and women in 2017 was 16.9%. The legislation hopes to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022. Those who fail to follow the new policy will face penalty fines.